Jessie MacLaren MacGregor (7 May 1863 – 22 March 1906) was one of the first women to be awarded an MD from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

in 1899. Along with

Elsie Inglis Eliza Maud "Elsie" Inglis (16 August 1864 – 26 November 1917) was a Scottish medical doctor, surgeon, teacher, suffragist, and founder of the Scottish Women's Hospitals. She was the first woman to hold the Serbian Order of the White Eagl ...

she was instrumental in setting up the Muir Hall of Residence for Women Students in Edinburgh, and the Hospice, a nursing home and maternity hospital for poor women.

Early life and education

Jessie MacLaren MacGregor was born 7 May 1863. She was a student of

Sophia Jex-Blake Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake (21 January 1840 – 7 January 1912) was an English physician, teacher, and feminism, feminist. She led the campaign to secure women access to a university education, when she began studying medicine at the Universit ...

at the

Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women The Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women was founded by Sophia Jex-Blake in Edinburgh, Scotland, in October 1886, with support from the National Association for Promoting the Medical Education of Women. Sophia Jex-Blake was appointed as both t ...

, and was one of the first women to take a medical degree at the

, after the barriers to women qualifying as doctors were removed by the University. Having qualified initially with the

Triple Qualification The Triple Qualification (TQ) was a medical qualification awarded jointly by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Faculty (later Royal College) of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow betwe ...

(LRCPE, LRCSE, LRFPSG), she took her

MBChB A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

(Bachelor of Medicine) degree in 1896, achieving first-class honours in every subject in the curriculum, passing all her professional examinations in the shortest time possible, and being awarded the Arthur Scholarship. Three years later, she took her MD (Doctor of Medicine), winning a gold medal for her thesis on the comparative anatomy of the auditory nerve.

Career

In 1894, she set up a medical practice in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

with

at 8 Walker Street. After passing her MD in 1899 she was appointed as Junior Physician to the Edinburgh Hospital for Women and Children, and was also a Registrar and Assistant to the Extra Physicians at the

Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh The Royal Hospital for Sick Children was a hospital in Sciennes, Edinburgh, Scotland, specialising in paediatric healthcare. Locally, it was commonly referred to simply as the "Sick Kids". The hospital provided emergency care for children from ...

. In 1901 along with

she was involved in setting up The Hospice on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is the nickname of a series of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The term originated in the early 20th century and has since entered popular usage. The Royal ...

in Edinburgh, a maternity hospital specifically for the care of working class women. She was also elected as a member of the Edinburgh Obstetrical Society in 1901, and was an active member, presenting samples and reading papers at meetings. In 1905, for family reasons, she left her practice in Edinburgh and emigrated to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in the United States.

Death and legacy

She died of acute cerebral meningitis on 22 March 1906, in Denver, and is buried in that city's Fairmount Cemetery. In 1908, the Dr Jessie MacGregor Prize in Medical Science was set up as a memorial to her, with a value of £75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacGregor, Jessie MacLaren 1863 births 1906 deaths 20th-century Scottish women medical doctors 19th-century Scottish women medical doctors 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 20th-century Scottish medical doctors Alumni of the University of Edinburgh